Recording apparatus



Jan. 13, 1953 F T. JQHN ET AL 2,625,459

RECORDING APPARATUS Filed April 5. 1952 JNVENToR.

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i vide reliable operation Patented Jan. 13, 1953 RECORDING APPARATUS,Frank .'1. John and Jo `poration of hn. Cannon, Jr., State College Pa.,.assignors to The Pennsylvania Research Corporation, State College, Pa.,a cor- Pennsylvania Application April 3, 1952, Serial No.A 280,406

- 9 Claims.

,This vinvention .relates ito a recording appan ratus, and moreparticularly,:to a printing mechanism for use in a multiple channelpolygraph for. selectively marking on a record receiving member datafrom one or more datum originat- Ling sources.

In their conventional-form, these polygraphs .use inkpensforrecordingthe desired data and.

as a result, have certain disadvantages. Not only :must the inkreservoir .bev lled at intervals', but .also the pens must frequently becleaned, especialIy, if they are used only intermittently. rIn addition,the pens maynot function properly if the apparatusV is mounted on asupport that is subject to vibration or if mounted otherwise than in aparticularly oriented position.

It is accordingly amongthe objects of this in` `vention to provide arecording apparatus of the type referred-.to that will not be subject tothe `foregoing disadvantages andthat, inaddition,

maybe cheaply and ruggedly constructed to prounder severe serviceconditions.

vIn the recording .apparatus vof this invention, the recording ismadeby'one or more rapidly vibrating vrecording wires striking .aninkedribbon and transferring an ink .impression there,- from to arecordV receiving member on the other side vof .thezribbon .Thevibration of each recording wire is effected .by the impacts of arapidly rotating cam, or other impact means, with Awhich each recordingVwire can be selectively brought into impact engagement byelectromagnetic or mechanical means that are responsive to aparticulardatum originating source, or event, that is to be recorded. If, as isusually the case, the record receiving member is continuously anduniformly moved during the operationof the device, the series of dotsmade thereon by a vibrating recording wire as it strikesv the inkedribbon will merge into a solid line, the length Aof which `is a measureofthe duration of the recorded event.

The invention is illustrated in the .accompanying drawings, in whichFigi is asomewhat diagrammaticfsectional elevationof a portion of amultiple channel polygraph embodying the Vinvention, and Fig. 2 is anisometric view,-partly in sectionof the essential-apparatus shown 'inFig. 1.

Referring tothe drawings, the recordA receiving member is represented-asa yweb of paper I, which is led from a supply roll 2 vovergaplaten roll.3 and .between the friction drive rolls 4 and l5.to..a.takeup roll 6. Aconventional drive (not ported in a plane shown) is connected to thedrive rolls to move 'them and the paper at .a uniform speed. Otherrconventional means (likewise not shown) are .platen roll 3 and is heldby any suitable means in spacedprinting relation tothe paper.

A recording wire 8, usually one of a plurality of such wires, preferablymade of stiff but resilientsteel wire, such as piano wire, is mountedwith its free upper end adjacent to the inked ribbon 'I and to an impactcam 9, but normally out of contactwith both the ribbon and cam. Thelower end of each recording wire is hingedly connected to an armature Itof an electromagnet II, there being a separate armature andelectromagnet for each recording Wire that is used. Integral with eacharmature I t, or attached thereto at its hinge I2, is a stop member I3,which makes an obtuse angle with the armature and comes in contact witha back plate I4 of the electromagnet II to support the armature in itsdown position. To provide intermediate lateral support for the recordingwires 8, each wire passes .through a separate hole I5 in a lguide plateI5, which may be mounted on top of the electromagnets Il, or otherwisesuitably supnormal to the plane of the recording Wires. As a result ofthis construc- Avtion, only the upper part of each recording wire isfree to vibrate.

Each of the electromagnets II is controlled by a separate electricalcircuit, which is normally open, so that each armature I0 is normally inits down position under the urging of a tension spring I7 extendingbetween each armature and a spring support member I8. When any onecircuit is closed by the occurrence vof an event to be recorded,which'for simplicity is here represented by the manual closing of aswitch I9, the electromagnet included therein will be energized andattract its armature I0 to raise the recording wire 8 connected theretoa predetermined distance that will bring' the free upper end of the wireinto contact with the continuously rotating impact cam 9, which issupported parallel to the platen roll 3 and the inked ribbon 'I and atright angles to the plane of the recording Wires. The impact cam is hereshown as asquare bar, but may be of any suitable crosssection; and it isrotated in the direction indicated by the arrow in each gure, so thatits lower surface is rotated towards the recording wires. The speed ofrotation of the cam is desirably high; and, since it has a squarecrosssection, it will deliver four impacts to an engaged recording wirewith each revolution, for example, '7000 impacts per minute when drivenat 1750 R. P. M. by a standard electric motor 20. Since the upper end ofeach recording wire is otherwise unrestrained, when that end is broughtinto impact engagement with the cam 9, it will be vibrated withsuiiicient amplitude to strike the inked ribbon 'i and produce an inkeddot or mark on the platen supported paper on vthe other side of theribbon. These blows of the recorder Wires are delivered so rapidly that,even if the paper is moving continuously at considerable speed, themarks printed thereon merge into a continuous line or trace, the lengthof which is a measure of the duration of the event re-v corded. Whenthat event ends, as by the manual opening of switch l1, theelectromagnet ll in the responsive electrical circuit will bedeenergized, and its armature I will drop down under the urging ofspring l1 and withdraw the recorder wire out of engagement with the cam9.

Instead of using electromagnets to actuate the recording wires, asdescribed above, it will be obvious that equivalent electrical ormechanical actuating means may be used, as for example, a mechanicallyoperated lever connected to the lower end of each recording wire.

It is among the advantages of the foregoing apparatus that it may beused in any position, even upside down from the position shown in thedrawings, because the recording wires are brought into engagement withtheimpact cam by the positive action of the relay armatures, thrownagainst the inked ribbon by the operation ofthe cam, and withdrawn fromengagement with the cam by the positive action of the springs attachedto the relay armatures; in other words, the functioning p-arts operateindependently of gravity.' The recording apparatus is also adapted tovery rugged construction and will operate reliably under eXtreme serviceconditions, involving vibration and shocks to the equipment. Inaddition, the apparatus will record simultaneously a large number ofevents on a minimum width of record receiving surface, because therecording wires and their actuating relays, especially if the latter arestaggered as shown in Fig. 2, can be contained in a minimum of space.

According tothe provisions of the patent statutes, we have explained theprinciples of our invention and have illustrated and described what wenow consider to represent its best embodiment. However, we desire tohave it understood that, within the scope of the appended claims, theinvention may be practiced otherwise than as specifically illustratedand described.

We claim:

1. A recording apparatus for printing data on a Vrecord receiving memberthrough an inked ribbon,

comprising impact means spaced from the inked ribbon, a recording memberof resilient wire niaterial, one end of said member being free tovibrate and being normally held adjacent to the impact means but out ofengagement with it, engaging means connected to the other end of therecording member for moving it longitudinally to bring its free end intoimpact engagement with said impact means at a point between said means'and the inked ribbon, whereby the free end `of the recording memberwhen engaged by said impact means will vibrate and strike the inkedribbon to mark the record receiving member.v

2. Apparatus according to claim l, in which 4 said impact means includesa rotatable impact cam and means for rotating the cam.

3. A recording apparatus for printing data on a record receiving memberthrough an inked ribbon, comprising a rotatable impact cam spaced fromthe inked ribbon, means for rotating the cam, a recording member ofresilient wire material movably supported at an angle to the axis of thecam, one end of the recording member being free to vibrate and beingnormally held adjacent to the cam but out of engagement with it,engaging means connected to the other end of the recording memberformoving it longitudinally to bring its free end'into impact engagementwith the cam at a point between the cam and the inked ribbon, wherebythe free end of the printing member lwhen engaged by the rotating camwill vibrate and strike the inked ribbon to mark the record receivingmember.

4. Apparatus according to claim 3J in which the 'impact cam has a squarecross-section and is `mounted substantially parallel to the inkedribbon.

5. Apparatus according to claim 3 that includes the following additionalelements: a rigidly mounted guide plate having a hole therethrough forslidably receiving the recording member to provide lateral support to anintermediate portion ci that member. Y

6. Apparatus according to claim 3, in which the engaging means comprisesan electromagnetand armature, the armature being` connected to saidother end of the recording member.

7. A printing mechanism for selectively print- Ying data from aplurality of datum originatingV sources, the printing being made on amoving record receiving member through an inked ribbon interposedbetween said member and the printing mechanism, the latter comprising arotatable impact cam spaced from and substantially parallel to the inkedribbon, means for rotating the cam, a plurality of spaced parallelrecording wires movably mounted at right angles to the axis of the camand substantially parallel to the plane A of the inked ribbon, one endof the recording wires being free to vibrate and being normally heldadjacent to the cam but out of engagement with it, separateelectromagnetic means connected to the other end of each'recording wirefor selec-V tively moving each wire longitudinally to interpose its freeend between the cam and the inked ribbon into engagement with the cam,each electromagnetic means being responsive to an electric currentcontrolled by a particular datum originating source, whereby the freeends of the recording wires when selectively engaged by the rotating camwill vibrate and strike the inked ribbon to mark the record receivingmember in accordance with data from the `datum originating sources.

8. Apparatus according to claim 4 that includes as an additional elementa guide plate having a plurality of holes therethrough, each holeslidably receiving a recording wire to provide lateral support to anintermediate portion of that wire.

9. A printing mechanism for selectively printing data from a pluralityof datum originating sources, the printing being made on a moving recordreceiving'member through an inked ribbon interposed between said memberand the printing mechanism, the latter comprising a rotatable impact camspaced from and substantially parallel to the inked ribbon, vmeans forcontinuously rotatingV the Vcam at high speed, a plurality of spacedparallel recording wires movably mounted at right angles to the axis ofthe cam and substantially parallel to the plane of the inked ribbon, oneend of the recording Wires being free to vibrate and being normally heldadjacent to the cam but out of engagement with it, a guide plate havinga plurality of holes therethrough for slidably receiving the recordingwires to support the wires against appreciable vibration at a pointintermediate of their ends, a separate electromagnetic relay mountedadjacent to the other end of each recording Wire and having an armaturehingedly connected to said end of the wire for selectively moving eachWire longitudinally to interpose its free end between the cam and theinked ribbon into engagement with the rotating cam, and a plurality ofelectrical circuits, eacn circuit including one of said relays and beingcontrolled by a particular datum originating source, whereby the freeends of the 6 recording wires when engaged by the rotating cam willvibrate and strike the inked ribbon to mark the record receiving memberin accordance with data from datum originating sources.

FRANK T. JOHN. JOHN B. CANNON, Ja.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the 4file ofthis patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 872,193 Orling Nov. 26, 1907FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 524,047 Great Britain July 29, 1940

